"Miss... Cipher."
"You wouldn't want the fact that you're maintaining the Dawn Device with a single lie to be discovered, would you?"
"?"
Lumina's gentle whisper reached Cipher's ears clearly, piercing straight to her heart and leaving her momentarily stunned, unable to react.
You wouldn't want the fact that you're maintaining the Dawn Device with a single lie to be discovered, would you?
The shock this sentence brought Cipher was simply too immense. She had never even imagined, nor could she have possibly conceived, that such words would... would actually come from the mouth of a complete stranger.
Spoken without any concealment, without any disguise...
"!You... you you you you!!!"
After a few seconds, a cold sweat broke out across Cipher's back and forehead. The calm expression on her face had long vanished, replaced by a wave of shock, horror, despair, and... ashen despair.
This single sentence held no offensive power, yet for some reason, it effortlessly shattered all of Cipher's inner defenses, leaving her... as if she had lost all her life force.
Cipher pointed at Lumina, her whole body trembling, unable to utter a single complete sentence for a long time.
"Mm-hmm♪" Seeing Cipher's state and feeling the emotions surging like a tide from her, Lumina's exquisitely beautiful little face was filled with innocence.
She hummed softly in pleasure as a response to Cipher.
"It's over, it's over, everything is over... Wuu wuu wuu /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~"
Looking at Lumina's pure and innocent appearance, Cipher abruptly turned her head to look at the Titan in Okhema's sky, the one who was "bearing the world" for all of mankind, and muttered in despair.
She seemed to have realized something, realized the scene of mass casualties and the end of the world...
"Why... why did it turn out like this..."
The images in her mind continued to run rampant, expanding again and again.
The scene of Agy's heartbroken and despairing gaze, and Tribbie and the others using their last ounce of strength to completely vanish into the air, yet unable to do anything...
Thinking about this, Cipher could no longer face anything in this world.
She crouched down with her hands over her head, burying her face in her arms, looking just like an abandoned little kitten, weak, pitiful, and helpless.
"Uh... Sister Lumina, Miss Cipher... did something happen to her?"
The words Lumina had just spoken to Cipher had not reached the ears of anyone else except Herta.
Therefore, they were all very confused by Cipher's sudden change in demeanor.
If it were her usual behavior, they wouldn't have minded. After all, everyone was not very familiar with Cipher and did not know her personality particularly well.
The so-called "face-changing" might just be one of her innate talents, nothing worth worrying about.
They only needed to show her their respect.
But Cipher's current state... no matter how they thought about it, it had nothing to do with any so-called innate talent.
Weak, pitiful, and helpless, she looked just like an abandoned little kitten.
Castorice was genuinely worried and finally asked Lumina about it.
"Oh, her? I think she's fine," Lumina replied simply.
Cipher's reaction was within Lumina's expectations, but the intensity of it was a bit beyond what she had imagined.
Lumina had already sensed something when they first entered Amphoreus.
Almost all of Amphoreus was shrouded in eternal night, except for Okhema.
Okhema was surrounded by a mysterious power that acted like endless fuel, providing it with a perpetual dawn.
Lumina knew from the start that Okhema's dawn was not achieved through normal means. It must have been some kind of trick, a different method altogether.
This was also why Lumina had initially erased her and Herta's presence in Amphoreus.
Otherwise, the moment she and Herta stepped into the range covered by that mysterious power, the power would instantly fail...
After arriving in Okhema and taking a moment to read up on its history, Lumina also learned the origin of this power.
It came from a Lie.
A Lie that could become true as long as one believed in it.
Knowing this was of little use, however, since Lumina didn't know exactly who the power originated from.
Only now, after Cipher appeared before her and Lumina felt the power she possessed was of the same origin as the "Lie," did she realize that Cipher was indeed the master of this power.
This whole affair was truly quite interesting.
The power of the [World-Bearing] Titan that the people of Okhema revered and worshipped had perished hundreds of years ago.
Yet, the one who had been masquerading as the [World-Bearing] Titan to maintain the Dawn Device from hundreds of years ago until now was actually [Trickery], one of the Three Titans of Calamity they had always despised.
Still, all things considered, this was very interesting. Lumina liked it a lot.
A sense of contrast, after all. Lumina was very fond of that.
Especially when it involved a beautiful girl... Ahem.
Realizing her thoughts were straying toward an unspeakable place again, Lumina coughed a few times to suppress the idea.
Returning her gaze to reality, she looked at Cipher, who was crouched on the ground with her hands over her head. The smile on Lumina's face grew even more unrestrained.
To hold a beautiful girl's secret, and one that absolutely must not be exposed, because if it were, it would cause the world to be destroyed.
So, in such a situation, how would you treat this beautiful girl?
Without a doubt, you would use this secret to properly soothe her, help her, and become the angel in her heart as the only light in the darkness.
Max out her affection.
That way, not only could you do more in-depth and more excessive things to her later, but you could also make her do them willingly, or even have her take the initiative.
Make her actively cooperate with her.
Lumina understood very clearly the difference between a momentary pleasure and a lasting one.
"Hey, Miss Cipher, don't be in such a hurry to cry."
"Lift your head and look at this world filled with dawn."
Lumina rested a finger on her cheek and smiled gently.
"It's over, it's over, it's over..."
Lumina's words didn't bring Cipher back from her state. She was still crouched on the ground, holding her head in her hands. Though her face was buried in her arms, hiding her expression from view...
Yet from her current posture, it was clear that her face must be filled with despair, completely drained of color.
Sentence after sentence filled with despair was murmured by her small mouth, reaching the ears of everyone present.
"Mem? Is... is she really okay?"
"This... this look doesn't seem okay at all, does it?"
Even though Lumina herself had said Cipher was fine, there was a high probability that she truly was okay.
But... but now, no matter from what 360-degree angle Mem looked at her, this posture bore absolutely no resemblance to the words "okay," did it?
Mem felt as if this "god" named Cipher had been completely shattered...
Yes, not about to shatter.
But completely shattered...
Everyone did nothing to her, so what exactly happened?
Mem swayed in the air, scratching her head in utter confusion.
Hmm... Could it be... that this bad girl did something to Miss Cipher when no one noticed?
Just as these confused thoughts were swirling in her mind, a new idea shone brightly within the sea of racing thoughts.
"Uh... I feel like this possibility is actually quite high."
Mem glanced at Lumina, and seeing her gentle smile, she became inexplicably convinced of this thought.
After all, given this bad girl's various behaviors, this really could be the outcome...
"Ah! Mem! What are you thinking!"
"What if she didn't do it? Wouldn't that be falsely accusing her!"
But the next second, Mem hurriedly rejected this thought.
There were several reasons for rejecting this thought, but there were only two main ones.
First, Mem shouldn't be gossiping about Lumina behind her back, especially when she didn't know the whole story. At least in Mem's sight, Lumina hadn't done anything or said anything, so how could she pin this baseless crime on her?
Second, although Lumina had played tricks on her and other beautiful girls before, they were always trivial matters that didn't cross the line.
Moreover, after being played with, both Lumina and the beautiful girl who had been tricked would feel a sense of reluctance and savor the memory... Even Mem herself had felt this way at the time.
Combining these two main reasons, looking at Cipher's strange appearance, Mem felt that the possibility of Lumina doing this was only 10%.
As for why Cipher had become like this, Mem didn't know. Anyway, this wasn't something she should be worrying about. Since Lumina said it was nothing, then Cipher must be fine.
Could someone as powerful as Lumina possibly lie about physical health?
Although Mem felt Lumina was a bit unscrupulous, she had to admit that her strength was indeed formidable.
"Heh..."
Although Mem tried to hide her thoughts, some of her emotions still showed on her cute doll-like face, and Lumina saw it all.
"Don't worry, Little Mem, you won't have to wait too long."
"After Cipher, if those two beautiful girls who have already died don't appear, it will be your turn!"
Lumina thought this in her mind, but on the surface, she didn't look at Mem.
Right now, Mem was in a state of mind wandering, and if she turned around and smiled at her, she might directly scare her.
Doing so would be rather counterproductive.
Mem was currently just in a doll form, and although Lumina was very interested, her level of interest was certainly not as high as that for other beautiful girls.
That was why she had placed Mem in the last position.
But none of that mattered; Mem would definitely become a beautiful girl.
No question about it!
Why was Lumina so sure?
For the same reason as before, "Amphoreus Saga of Heroes."
If there were no surprises, that girl named Cyrene in the ending sequence would surely be Mem's human form~
Hmm... she could even delete the words "if there were no surprises."
Mem is Cyrene!
Her voice was exactly the same, and her colors were exactly the same. If Mem wasn't Cyrene, then Lumina would punish herself and Cyrene with an intimate apology!
Cyrene was so cute, and Lumina liked her very much!
The kind of beautiful girls Lumina liked were exactly this kind of pinkish-blush ones.
Lumina really wanted to meet Cyrene soon and become one of her best friends.
But one shouldn't rush anything. Cipher had yet to be dealt with, and those two deceased demigods, Hysilens and Cerydra, had yet to be dealt with either.
Uh... not dealt with, but she had yet to become their best friend.
So, Lumina would take things one step at a time.
Anyway, she wouldn't miss a single one.
Lumina remembered everything about beautiful girls with absolute clarity.
If she forgot anything about beautiful girls, not even Lumina herself, let alone anyone else, would ever forgive her.
This was an unforgivable, inexcusable matter!
Lumina would punish herself by going to cuddle with a beautiful girl right now, immediately, this instant!
Even just thinking about it, even just pondering this matter in her mind, Lumina still couldn't forgive herself.
She immediately imposed a "punishment" on herself.
Returning to reality, Lumina looked at Cipher before her.
Taking a step forward, she came before Cipher and looked down at her.
And Cipher, seemingly oblivious to all of this, still had the look of a pitiful little kitten that had been abandoned.
Lumina smiled, crouched down, opened her arms, and gently pulled Cipher's entire curled-up body into her embrace.
A warmth like a mother's embrace was transmitted from Lumina to Cipher.
As if Lumina possessed some kind of magical power, the emotions radiating from Cipher's side dissipated greatly in an instant.
The murmurs coming from her mouth also grew smaller and smaller.
"Hey, Miss Cipher, don't look down."
"Please look up, and gaze upon this Okhema of eternal dawn."
This time, Lumina did not say these words in front of Cipher.
Instead, she pressed her lips against Cipher's ear and spoke with a hint of seduction.
The words were soft, like a needle piercing deep into Cipher's heart.
"You... you... you..."
Under Lumina's close embrace and seductive voice, Cipher, who had been filled with despair, felt her ears turn red instantly.
"Stop with the 'you, you, you.' Come on, little kitten, look up." Hearing Cipher's slight stutter, Lumina smiled.
She interrupted Cipher's words and gestured for her to lift her head and look at Okhema.
"Mm..."
A soft hum came from her nose.
With each wave of warmth from Lumina, the negative emotions in Cipher's heart completely vanished.
Hearing Lumina's words, she slowly raised her head and looked at the sky.
What met her eyes was a dawn, a clear blue sky.
"The trick... it didn't fail?"
Cipher murmured, her confused voice reaching Lumina's ears.